Trump at APEC Summit: ‘We Are Not Going to Let The United States Be Taken Advantage of Anymore’

President Donald Trump brought a ringing “America first” message to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Friday, telling representatives of Asian nations gathered in Danang, Vietnam, that the United States was no longer going to be an easy mark.

“We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore,” Trump said. “I am always going to put America first.”

The president noted that nations that had been shrewder than America were doing what they should, but would get away with it no longer.

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“The current trade imbalance it not acceptable,” Trump said. “I do not blame China, or any other country, of which there are many, for taking advantage of the United States on trade. If their representatives are able to get away with it, they are just doing their jobs.”

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“I wish previous administrations in my country saw what was happening and did something about it,” Trump said. “They did not, but I will.”

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“From this day forward, we will compete on a fair and equal basis,” he said.

Trump explained he foresees a new brand of partnerships.

“I will make bilateral trade agreements with any Indo-Pacific nation that wants to be our partner and that will abide by the principles of fair and reciprocal trade,” he said.

“We will no longer tolerate the audacious theft of intellectual property. We will confront the destructive practices of forcing businesses to surrender their technology to the state and forcing them into joint ventures in exchange for market access,” he said.

“We will address the massive subsidizing of industries through colossal state-owned enterprises that put private competitors out of business, all the time.”

“Such practices, along with our collective failure to respond to them, hurt many people in our country and also in other countries. Jobs, factories, and industries were stripped out of the United States and out of many countries in addition. And many opportunities for mutually beneficial investments were lost because people could not trust the system.”

Trump also made mention of North Korea in his speech.

“We also know that we will not have lasting prosperity if we do not confront grave threats to security, sovereignty, and stability facing our world today,” he said.

“Earlier this week, I addressed the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea and urged every responsible nation to stand united in declaring that every single step the North Korean regime takes toward more weapons is a step it takes into greater and greater danger. The future of this region and its beautiful people must not be held hostage to a dictators twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail.”